Pierre-Marc Bouchard
| birth_place = Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada | draft = 8th overall | draft_year = 2002 | draft_team = Minnesota Wild | career_start = 2002 }} Pierre-Marc Bouchard (born on April 27, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who last played for EV Zug of the National League A (NLA). He played his junior hockey with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Pierre was selected eighth overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Playing Career Pierre-Marc appeared in professional play for the first time in the 2002–03 NHL season in which he posted 7 goals and 13 assists for a total of 20 points in 50 games for the Minnesota Wild, which has been regarded as decent by NHL standards. During the 2004-05 NHL lockout, he played for the Wild's minor league team, the Houston Aeros. Within this time period, Pierre-Marc vastly improved his game. This was proved in the 2005–2006 season while he posted 17 goals and 42 assists for a total of 59 points in 80 games. On July 25, 2008, he signed a five-year, $20.4 million deal with the Minnesota Wild. After suffering a hit to the head late in the 2008-09 season, Pierre-Marc missed the rest of that season and all but the season opener of the 2009-10 season with post-concussion syndrome. On December 1, 2010, he resumed play in a game against the Phoenix Coyotes after a 13-month absence, having missed 112 games. He scored a goal in his second game back, a loss to the Calgary Flames by a score of 3-2 in a shootout. On July 5, 2013, Pierre-Marc signed a one-year, $2.0 million deal with the New York Islanders. On February 6, 2014, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks along with Peter Regin in exchange for a 2014 fourth-round draft pick and assigned to the Blackhawks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate team, the Rockford IceHogs. On July 8, 2014, Pierre-Marc signed a one-year contract with Swiss club, EV Zug of the Swiss NLA. The contract also included an NHL out clause if he could reach a deal with a club prior to July 15th. In his debut season with Zug in 2014–15, his transition was seamless in producing as their top line centre with 51 points in 49 games. On December 23, 2014, Pierre-Marc was signed to a two-year contract extension with Zug. Team captains and coaches of the NLA teams voted him MVP of the 2015-16 regular season. On March 18, 2016, he announced his retirement from professional hockey after having played 2 years in the NLA and missed more than a year with concussions during his career. According to Marc-Pierre, he said that he did not want to risk any further health issues. Playing Style Pierre-Marc is regarded as a creative playmaker and strong team player who often attempts unorthodox techniques during play. An example of one of these techniques was performed during an overtime shootout attempt in which he converted by utilizing a variation of a spin-o-rama against Chicago Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. Pierre-Marc repeated this move several years later, again against Khabibulin, though he did so during regulation play on a breakaway, rather than during an overtime shootout attempt. He later credited the move to his younger brother Francois. Career Statistics Regular season and playoffs International Awards & Achievements *2001–02 CHL Player of the Year *2003–04 NHL YoungStars Game *2015-16 NLA MVP of the regular season Category:1984 births Category:Minnesota Wild draft picks Category:Minnesota Wild players Category:New York Islanders players Category:Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Category:Canadian ice hockey players Category:EV Zug players